Destinies Intertwined
by Sagacious Strix
Summary: Memories. What makes the past so haunting when it can't be remembered? Follow Naruto as he discovers the mystery of an organization that has stolen his memories in the hope that he can help eradicate the greatest threat humanity has ever known.


Hi all,

This is my first fanfic and I must say that it is quite difficult to get an idea, bad or good I'll just leave you to decide, written out on paper! I might be a little obsessed over these two mangas/animes so I decided to test the waters with a collaboration of these two unique worlds. Please feel free to critique! I understand that I'll need all the help I can get.

Thanks for reading!

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Blinding light erupted from the sky. A figure appeared amidst the flash and slammed into the ground creating an immense crater in the earth. Sudden silence rings through the forest as creatures wait for the danger to come.

Another figure appears, this one dressed in a long black cloak, saunters over to examine the specimen within the crater. Seeing no physical damage on their subject they journeys down into the depths of the earth to retrieve the seemingly lifeless person.

Running back up with inhuman speed they reach the top of the nearest tree knowing that they would have guests of the unsavory nature very soon. They glance once more at the boy in their arms. The stranger places him on their back and journey off further into the inky black forest knowing full well that the experiment has officially commenced.

* * *

Waking up to a major headache is not what I would call a good morning thought the figure as he opened his eyes to uncertain light. And why exactly is the sky green?

Taking a few moments to adjust my eyes I noticed that the sky was not in fact green, it was covered by a thick leafy canopy. Looking to my left I saw branches and checking the right proved to reveal the same sight.

I was in a tree. What was I doing in a tree? Thinking back in order to jog his memory he found… nothing. It was as if every memory had been erased and only his vocabulary had remained leaving behind nothing else, not even a name.

Trying not to panic I struggled to remember at least one defining characteristic of myself. Looking down I saw tan hands on top of a burlap blanket, not what I would consider comfortable but it was chilly so no complaints there. I was perched atop a crudely constructed mat that consisted of tree branches tied together with ropes, my legs tied to the braches as well to prevent any accidental slips. I carefully untied my legs before continuing my examination.

Besides the hands I noticed I was wearing an orange jumpsuit constructed of a top, over-shirt and pants, not what I would have chosen if I had been given a choice but it was comforting knowing that I must have had some sort of history with this outfit. The top is lined with black along the shoulders, down middle and along the bottom hem with a zipper separating the right and left portions. Unzipping it I found a black shirt with an orange swirl in the middle and underneath that some sort of armor constructed from a light but sturdy mesh material. Glancing under the blanket I found orange cropped pants and black shoes that revealed my toes with the top coming well past my ankles.

Replacing the blanket I constructed a list from my quick inspection. So apparently I was a fan of the color orange, I didn't know how to buy clothes that properly fit and I was in a tree. Again, why was I in a tree? Glancing down towards the forest floor I found my answer.

Three beings that were as tall as a house, if not taller could be seen from my treetop position. They had no distinct gender and large disproportionate features dominated their faces, made even stranger when compared to those found in a normal human. The creatures had large grins, almost as if welcoming me to come down and join them. This gave me shivers just thinking about what might happen if I were to inadvertently tumble down.

After these careful observations I realized that if there was ever a time to panic now would be it.

Suddenly one noticed me observing it and jumped. I jerked up from my position on the mat and before I knew it I was falling. The humanoid beings became quite excitable at the notion of me joining them that they immediately stretched their freakishly long arms towards me.

Closing my eyes and imaging a very gory and inevitable demise I was shocked when I felt myself being caught and carried away from the giant people. As one they ran towards me and my savior though we were well out of reach in a nearby tree. Like something out of one of the romance novels Kakashi-sensei favors I was set down by my rescuer who chose to walk a ways away on the branch, spreading the distance between us. Wait, who is Kakashi? I know a stranger's name but not my own, how weird is that? I even know about his hobbies. What are my hobbies? Apparently teasing large giants by staying in trees, just out of reach was one; one that I could hopefully squash before it became a habit.

Why am I thinking about this when someone just saved my ass from becoming a feast?

Glancing to my left I could see the stranger was politely withholding any comments but was staring at me with a contemplative expression upon her face. Okay, if before wasn't a time to creeped out now surly is.

Not being able to resist the flow of questions that entered my mind I started with the most obvious. "Who are you?"

The figure gently nodded their head as if in affirmative and walked over. "Who am I? A strange question coming from one that doesn't even know their own name. What is a name but a word that identifies you to others and then again why is it so important? Why must a person have a name in order to be considered a person? Why must they need an identity? Well, I suppose not everyone can be spoken to through the use of 'hey you' or with a grunt their general direction. Life might become more confusing than it already is, don't you think? And so to that end I will tell you my name but you must answer a question of my own first." She said all this with a melodious voice which was quite soothing on the ears.

How does she know that I don't know my own name? Being thoroughly confused at how this conversation had diverged from a simple question I nodded my head in agreement of the term.

Displaying a wide smile with pure white teeth filed to points she walked closer. I could tell she was quite pretty, if not beautiful, with rich red hair flowing to the middle of her back and a thin face with striking green eyes glowing with curiosity topped with thick black lashes. As she approached I also noticed how she had a tall figure though it was covered with a long black cloak that tightly clung to her body. Just as she was a foot away she stopped and looking deep into my eyes she asked "How do you feel?"

Hear me out for a moment. So I found myself in the top of a tree when I woke with a splitting headache and frightening giants below with no recollection of who I was or where I came from added with the fact that this was the last question I could have expected. Also include that I had just been saved from large abnormal humans by this mysterious stranger. I couldn't even remotely compute what she had just asked.

"What?" I asked stupidly.

"How are you feeling?" she repeated with emphasis on the word feeling.

I feel like an idiot, that's how I'm feeling but knowing this wouldn't be an acceptable answer I frowned slightly and replied "Um… confused because I have no idea of who I am, frightened because I just saw my life flash before my eyes, a life based off of a few moments alone in a tree but even that's not an accurate statement because I was just freakin' about to be eaten by freakishly tall and creepy humanoid monsters! Along with that I have a killer headache! Why would this even be an acceptable question to ask in a time like this? Now will you tell me who the hell you are and why I'm in a fucking tree?"

Yeah, you could say I lost my cool to be putting it mildly. But to be fair I was in a stressful situation.

She just glanced in my direction and sighed in relief. "That's good. We thought you might have been damaged in the process of transporting you here but you seem to be normal, at least as much as you ever were. Of course an altered personality is also expected. The headache is easily explained as well. The collision when your head hit the ground made quite the impression on the earth. As far as the tree, well you found out for yourself because you wouldn't be here if not for this tree and the fact that I had to save your sorry skin."

"You're avoiding my question. I answered your question now tell me who you are with none of this nonsense about identity." I asked as calmly as I could, given the circumstances.

"A demanding one aren't you? Oh alright, my name is Midori." she replied.

Midori. It was nice to finally place a name with the first person I had met as annoying as the process had been. "Well Midori could you tell me who I am and how I came to be here?" I asked hoping to get more answers out of the loquacious red head.

"I'm really not allowed to say much but your name is Naruto and you are sixteen. You'll just have to figure the rest out with your foxy companion." She stated briefly with a wink before turning her back on me.

What companion was she referring too? As far as I was concerned it was her, me and those creepy ass titans below. Just great, more questions with even fewer answers. But at least I had a name "to identify myself to others" as she so annoyingly put it. Glancing back at her I was alarmed to see that she was ten feet away and headed in a northbound direction.

"Hey where are you going?" I shouted as she kept moving quickly hoping from tree to tree.

"Back to headquarters but don't worry you'll be seeing me again! You might want to sit and meditate a bit on what I said, just f.y.i." She turned around. One moment she was there and the next she was gone.

'Well that's just great! Now I'm stuck in this big ass tree with nowhere to go with ginormous titans who seemed to have a craving for something human. And what does f.y.i even mean? What was that about meditating?' He thought just as his stomach let out an irritable rumble. Looking around I saw a backpack at the end of my branch just within reach. Inching down to the end of the branch I snatched the pack and traversed back to my home sweet home a.k.a my mat of branches in the tree.

After a couple more near-death experiences I finally arrived at my destination and surveyed the items contained within the bag. The first thing I noticed was a sword.

It was of a study material but felt rather light considering the thickness of the piece. I strapped it on and settled to look through the rest. Some odd weapons in the shape of a knife with a pointed arrow head and a loop for a handle were nestled in a separate pack along with another instrument that had four blades surrounding an inner circle. The words kunai knife and shuriken came to mind as I touched the instruments. Feeling weirded out by the sudden appearance of knowledge I decided to strap the pack on too; they looked like they would come in handy even if they did look and feel familiar in an unfamiliar way.

Along with the weapons came food in the form of dried meat with some vegetables and dried fruit. I ate these greedily, almost inhaling the small morsels. After the measly meal I scrounged deep into the bag for anything I might have missed. I was surprised to find a note. 'Don't forget to meditate before bed, remember to aim for the neck and eat your veggies. –Your loving mentor, Midori p.s. Do at least try not to die. I won't always be there to save your orange clad hide.'

Whatever you could say about her at least she cared enough to tell me not to die; a lot of good that'll do me. The sun had quickly dispersed while I sat there in my castle in the sky. Looking down once more I saw that the titans seemed to have quieted down since they were no longer trying to climb up the tree to feast on my savory self. Having nothing better to do I settled down into a comfortable pose that seemed both familiar and comfortable. Blocking out all sound except my breathing I remained like that until I was unwillingly transported into a dark world, seemingly in the depths of a dark prison.

Prison would be an understatement. It looked more like a sewer due to water of the not so clear sort covering the ground. There were various pipes in the walls releasing their contents in a steady flow. Dim lighting was prevalent through the whole space but the most prominent feature was the large gate, formed from thick golden bars bolted into the walls. There was a center piece where it looked like a key would fit but instead of a key was a piece of paper that said seal. As I approached the gate I began to feel a chill and a tantalizing evil aura surrounding the place. Looking deep within I found myself staring into a pair of huge, blood-red and slightly crazed eyes.

"**So glad you could join me at last, Naruto**" Growled the most menacing creature he had ever seen in his entire sixteen years.

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There we have it, one chapter down with many to come! I would greatly appreciate any feedback negative or positive!

~Strix


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